Tuesday, 10 September 2013

Turmeric is a powerful anti-cancer agent and your liver's best friend : Research

A simple, yet highly effective way to thwart cancer and protect your
liver against disease can be found in a common spice that has been used
in Indian cooking for thousands of years. Turmeric, and more
specifically, curcumin, its primary active ingredient, continues to
shine as an awe-inspiring, anti-cancer "superfood" spice with a vast
array of tangible health benefits, including its ability to induce
cancer cell death and prevent cirrhosis.

Research is constantly
being published with regards to the nutritive power of turmeric, and
some of the latest research highlights the many ways in which this herb
battles cancer. A recent study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention,
for instance, found that a dose-dependent administration of curcumin
effectively activated apoptosis of liver cancer cells, meaning it
prompted these harmful cells to die. In their conclusion, the
researchers involved with this study declared curcumin to be a
"promising phytomedicine in cancer therapy."

Previous studies have arrived at similar conclusions, including a 2007 study published in the journal, Liver International.
Researchers from the Department of Gastroenterology at the Tel-Aviv
Sourasky Medical Center in Israel tested the effects of curcumin in mice
with chemical-induced liver damage. Compared to hepatic damaged mice
not given curcumin, those given the spice effectively averted developing
liver cirrhosis, an outcome that researchers attributed to turmeric's
anti-inflammatory properties.

"As curcumin
ingestion is safe in humans, it may be reasonable to assess in clinical
studies the beneficial effect of curcumin in slowing the development of
liver cirrhosis," wrote the authors in their conclusion.

One
year later, in 2008, researchers out of Taiwan published a study
verifying that curcumin can also benefit in the treatment of lung cancer.
Not only did the spice demonstrate a unique ability to prevent cancer
cells from invading and spreading, but it also activated key proteins
responsible for naturally blocking and suppressing tumors from forming.
The team from the National Yang-Ming University in Taipei ultimately
declared that their findings support the application of curcumin in
anti-cancer metastasis therapy.

And again in 2010, a study published in the Journal of Ovarian Research
found that curcumin has another unique use in cancer treatment.
Patients with ovarian cancer, which is difficult to treat conventionally
due to chemotherapy and radiation resistance, can be effectively
"pre-treated" with curcumin in order to improve the efficacy of
conventional cancer treatment.

"Curcumin pre-treatment enhances
chemo/radio-sensitization in ... ovarian cancer cells through multiple
molecular mechanisms," wrote the authors, who are from the University of
South Dakota, of this particular study. "[C]urcumin pre-treatment may
effectively improve ovarian cancer therapeutics."